Real Law Firm Stuff

Can you remember marketing your law firm before the internet? What kind of “stuff” did you do? I know it wasn’t this:

And yet, in the arms race to be #1 in Google, this is exactly what many law firms are doing. In fairness, it’s what they’re being persuaded to do by their “SEO” consultants.

But it’s fake. It’s embarrassing. And it’s “working” less and less every single day.

This past July I had the opportunity to witness SEER’s Wil Reynolds deliver Real Company Stuff:

Do Real Company Stuff - Mozcon 2012 Version von Wil Reynolds

It’s probably the best presentation I’ve seen on SEO ever.

The thrust of Wil’s presentation is that companies need to focus more on real company s*$# (stuff) and stop doing, for lack of a better term, fake company stuff. Here’s Wil explaining what he means:

Do Stuff Real Law Firms Do

So what kind of “stuff” do real law firms do? Here are some ideas:

• Real law firms stand for something.
• Real law firms are active in their communities.
• Real law firms educate the public.
• Real law firms inspire social change.
• Real law firms help real people.
• Real law firms partner with organizations that further justice.
• Real law firms raise awareness of important social issues.
• Real law firms maintain the dignity of the profession.
• Real law firms participate in public service.

And as an indirect consequence of doing all of this real stuff, these firms build a reputation. And this reputation leads things like:

• Gaining an audience.
• Developing relationships.
• Getting word of mouth referrals.
• Getting interviewed.
• Getting positive reviews and ratings.
• Getting talked about.

Which in turn leads to:

• People subscribing to their blogs.
• People sharing the stuff they’re doing.
• People linking to their websites.
• People writing about them.
• People leaving positive reviews and ratings online.

And, as any real SEO knows, this is what search engines are looking for.

Real law firms do real things. Stop doing fake stuff.